Eric Nara
---- Overview Eric Nara is a Sannin? to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, better known as Konohagakure. Over the years, his affiliations have altered and changed, but for a large portion of his known ninja career, he has been a Leaf shinobi. He is also the currently? un-challenged? head of the Nara Clan within Konohagakure and former leader to the now disbanded Shadow Force. Although he is typically found relatively alone or with his mount, Rita the dragon, his skill set and tactics tend to favor a support or assassination role, making him suitable for team and stealth missions. A proud parent, Eric Nara is also the self-proclaimed "standard" for his rank. His abilities include Wind, Fire, and Earth release, his mastery in highest to lowest order, with his shadow manipulation falling somewhere between Wind and Fire releases. He is also knowledgeable of genjutsu, but chooses not to carry it in his personal arsenal due to the nature of his battle style. As a half-dragon, he also is rarely seen in his dragon form, the cause a secret known to a few dragons and himself, hidden from others due to the sensitive nature of it. Finally, he has a policy concerning the techniques in his arsenal; he must at the least understand how they work. While this means that, while he can perform a technique, if he does not understand how it works, he will not employ it. This slows his growth, but ensures that his ability to teach and change the techniques he does have are proficient. Recently has formed a team for the Jōnin Exams, called Team Eric, consisting of himself as team leader, Makata Tonjo, Raisan Nara, and Renna Sabuti. This team is also interchangeable, with himself still as leader and Jestar as his wingman. Zone Reference Information? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Personality Eric Nara is a somewhat cautious and shrewd individual, always searching for the cause: the cause behind actions, behind jutsu, behind nature itself sometimes. As a result, he is constantly in a mode of thought, and speaking his mind comes almost naturally, save for certain persons and superiors. He tends to be light-hearted, even in battle, though the injury of potential death of an ally can drastically change this to a cold, solemn attitude that is bent on destruction. Emotionally stable, the shinobi also attempts to uphold a certain code of ethnics at all times, not just for himself, but for those around him as well. He attempts to take a sort of guiding role at times, since in his age he has expereinced quite the lot. He also has a somewhat perverted side, although few have seen evidence of this. History: Background Early: Eric Nara was conceived in an area of relative peace between the various realms. However, by the time he was actually born, the realm became enthralled with warring states and clans, each competing for a slice of their world. Eric was born within Fire Country to two loving parents in a modest home in a modest town, far from the conflict and far from the chaos. As a result, in his earliest years, he was a relatively naiive child, unknowing of the interwoven conflicts that complicated his world. However, his father was a Nara Clan member, and as such had to respond to various calls to arms when his clan was in the need of it, so he was mostly raised early on by his mother. This early experience has caused a certain respect and obedience to women, which would have great influence later in life. First Complication: By the age of 5, Eric was a quickly growing boy. However, his parents both held and kept a secret they both could never share with any of the residence, with fear that their religious preferences would drive them out. Far worse occurred when the town was ravaged and attacked by the very creatures that the townspeople worshipped: dragons. With their only son, the two parents fled, but soon realized that together they would be easily tracked. Eric’s father volunteered himself to distract the dragons while they continued to flee. Despite protests by Eric and his mother, it did them little good, as time was of the essence. Understanding better than Eric, the mother snatched up her child and fled, as the first rays of dawn gave their Nara father the chance he had been hoping to defend one last time his family. His father would never be heard from again. His mangled form would be later found by Eric’s mother and discreetly buried. She would not tell Eric of his father’s demise, or more importantly of how he looked in death until much later, fearing that it would scar him to learn at such a tender age. Knowing fully well why the dragons attacked the town, Eric’s mother considered taking the child to Konoha; but with recent events, it would be easier to stay under the radar in a clan. Siwon, a clan that dubbed themselelves “shinobi in the world of naruto”, became the answer. History: "Shinobilegends" The ninja is born: Siwon was a ninja establishment, so it was inevitable for Eric to be caught up in the ninja way of life. Ripe for academy age, he joined their training program, sparring with friends from other clans and even his own clan. Eric’s mother, after speaking with the leaders of Siwon, said one last good-bye to Eric before leaving. Heart-broken, the young shinobi vowed to uncover the secrets that slowly seemed to be haunting his present. Monthly he would keep in contact with his mother, and even every now and again be visisted. But it only made it harder to accept that she was not to be around for long. Female domination, however, was only just beginning for the shinobi. Still a fledgling by most standards, the ninja was no born prodigy, and as such had some difficulty getting the hang of a Nara’s most interesting tool: strategy. Odd as it may have seemed, it was hard to concoct a plan beforehand, and his skills in manipulating shadows were feeble, as he had had little training in the aspect, since there were no clanmates in the town to aide with this. Here he encountered a kunoichi who dubbed herself “kyuubigirl”. Her name was certainly not derived from nothing, as her appearance and fighting style resembled a fox’s. Spar after spar, the shinobi was constantly bested by her, frustrating him. It wouldn’t become long before the shinobi’s second major influence came to light: a rival. Friendly Rivalries: As hard of a concept as it was, the shinobi soon found that he had more than a few figures to face off with as he grew older and more experienced. When he finally managed to, for the first time, best Kyuubigirl, he was rather accomplished and overjoyed. However, soon, a rival better known as Nathan Stamper would enter into the picture, and a friendship would form of sorts. Eric refined his battle style with this shinobi, who’s name would be linked to a legendary Sannin of Konoha, though it is improbable that there was any relation. Another man by the name of Fifty (now Rare) also entered the picture around this time. While to say that the two were friends or even acquaintances in this age would be stretching dollars into nickels and vice versa, Eric’s encounter with this future legendary shinobi introduced him to a bigger picture than Siwon: Konohagakure. The realization that there were larger ninja villages astounded the shinobi, particularly because the village possessed the clan that held his surname of Nara. With introductions out of the way, Eric quickly became acquainted with one of the clan members, who claimed to know of Eric’s father. Apparently he had two sisters, one half Uchiha and the other similar to him in many categories. So Eric seeked her out. To his surprise, she was a ninja-for-hire skilled in genjutsu and shadow manipulation. He soon enlisted her to help acquantice him with the Nara Clan techniques. While in the village, Eric encountered a yellow-haired man. While the encounter was mostly a sighting, the shinobi of sights would later become the successor to the Hokage of the time, Gyrururu. Returning to Siwon, the shinobi brought with him a fire that was inevitably seen as a desire to join the ranks of Konoha. He eventually become well-versed with the leader of the town, as he slowly was becoming one of the more accomplished members of the clan. Rita the Dragon: Eric inquired one day of one of his seniors of how he could possibly acquire a mount. He desired one greatly, since after all, he seeked a sort of companionship that came along only with having someone, or in some cases something, always there by your side. He was given an answer that many had been doing since they first stepped into the realm; walk into the forest and see what you meet. Eric, of course, had been through forests a lot, as he was after all in Fire Country. So the teenager strolled out into the forest, blindly following the advice intended to direct him towards a conventional partner. Conventional was far from what he got. While wandering in the forest, he stumbled upon a small, probably young dragon, who seemed to be attempting to creep up on him. Certainly the two had similar mindsets, for in the end they both pounced at the same time. The encounter led to a bump of heads, and before long, Eric managed to restrain the dragon with his shadow possession technique. When it began to speak, Eric found out two things; it was a “she”, and “she” had intentions of delivering him to her father. Eric neither believed the dragon nor liked the sound of it. So using his shadow possession technique, he “convinced” the dragon to follow him all the way back to Siwon. The two soon developed a relationship Eric hadn’t experienced in quite the while. When the dragon was hungry, he would fetch her food; when she was thirsty, he would draw the water. Eric didn’t seem to mind, as, after all, since he was interacting with one of the creatures that his old home had worshipped. On one of her visits, his mother had different opinions, expressing incredible disdain for the presence of the dragon. Eric and his mother had their first major disagreement, and, since he was after all old enough to be a fresh Chunin-leveled shinobi, then his mother had no jurisdiction over what he would call as a mount. Although fearing for Eric’s safety, his mother let it go, realizing that it was better that he stuck with Siwon than to wander off on his own out of anger or resentment. Eventually the dragon expressed to him her name, being “Rita”, and much to his own surprise, the young dragon was incredibly witty for her age, constrewing a contract to allow him to summon her. Eric signed, but he unwittingly also handed over a few other things in the process, one of them being his right to “own” her in a sense. While he never had that before, he now certainly was not entitled to it now. The night after the contact was signed in blood, Rita vanished into the night, not to be seen for quite some time by Eric. Siwon Dies: Eric continued furthering his career as a PvPer within Siwon, mindful of his targets. However, there came a time when an epidemic began spreading through Siwon. Little by little, members dropped off like flies, many dead, many disbanding out of terror of the disease. Eric strangely enough was unaffected: his mother, whom was bed-ridden on this last visit, was not so fortunate. In her last moments, she explained to Eric all that he was and, more importantly, why things had ended up the way they had. Just old enough to leave out on his own, Eric accepted the explanation before heading out to get more water. By the time he returned, his mother was gone; only a calm, smiling face the only reminder upon her sickly face that there once was life within. Disraught at the breakup of his “clan” and more importantly his home’s crumbling stature, he took charge of the clan, attempting to bring it back to a former sense of glory and strength. Ultimately he failed. After burying his mother in both memory and body, he encountered a threat strange yet familiar to him; dragons. They swarmed the establishment, wrecking havoc on the weakened community, wiping from the face of the earth the renments of what Eric called home. Desparate, Eric attempted to fight them off with a double-edged sword that resembled leadership within the organization; The Blade of Shadows. Given to him when he had taken charge, it had been forged by one of the finest blacksmiths of the Siwon community prior to the plague. Eric fought well, but was defeated yet again. Sensing a pattern, Eric attempted to detonate a flurry of explosive tags, intent on taking himself and the dragons out. However, one of the dragons, quickly realizing the threat, immobilized him with a giant foot, exerting chakra pressure great enough to suppress Eric’s own chakra. Will of Fire is kindled in another furnace: Ultimately, it seemed as if death was the only option left for the shinobi. The dragon prepared to finish him off when suddenly another dragon intervened. It declared that none were to lay a hand on Eric; unless they wanted to go through her first. The other dragons took her at her word, but soon enough were immobilized by a stretched shadow. Lo and behold, it was Rita and his sister, Erica, who had conviently came to rescue him. The dragons threatened to kill the group collectively, but Rita negotiated otherwise, instead saying that they could finish off whoever was left without Eric’s resistance. Eric protested, but his life hang on his agreement. Since he still lives, the choice he made should be rather clear at this point. Upon returning to the Leaf village with Erica, it all came full circle. In order to fully utilize the extent of his abilities, Erica managed to Eric introduced into the Leaf shinobi system as a Chunin. He would later improve this rank to become Jounin. The two soon paired up as a team, with Rita as their third. Together, the trio would make the best of what they could, Eric completing his Nara clan training and anti-genjutsu training with Erica, while learning some of the ways of his much larger mount, who had grown considerably in size since their last encounter. Oddly enough, Eric doesn’t seem to have brought up why Rita and Erica were in the area in the first place. As time went on, Eric grew accustomed to being a Leaf shinobi, and as such, devoted himself when the time came for him to prove his loyalty. The village was at war with the Mist, the Leaf’s participation largely a result of the Sand. Nevertheless, it soon came to fruitation that Eric earned many stripes for his PvP efforts for the war, although in many aspects it went un-recognized, as many had their own books to check off. First Love and a Son: During the war, Eric realized that whether he liked it or not, fighting with Rita was far easier than fighting without her in many circumstances. This would later prove to be detrimental to Eric’s skills overall as a shinobi, but his experience and knowledge from surviving more fights aided greatly in the cause. He encountered a kunoichi by the name of Johanna, and within due time, the two became very well acquainted with each other. Before long, the two were on the verge of marrying, when Rita advised against it, since the ongoing war would probably interfere with their ability to see each other. That didn’t step Eric from going nearly a step beneath, and much to Rita’s dismay, Johanna would bore him a son. They named him Jestar “Holrew” Nara, and after a quick spar, it was decided that the child would reside with Eric. Begrudgingly, Johanna made Eric promise to allow Jestar to fluently know about his mother and their lineage. However, the demands of war called him away much of the time, so he was unable to fulfill this promise until much later. It was also during the war that he first began attempting to use his dragon forme in battle; however, it was quite the discouraged thing to do, and Eric refrained from bringing up that side of his history for quite a while. Post_War Eric and the Shadow Force: From here, the history begins to condense and blur somewhat together. When the war ended, Eric was devastated to find that his country had lost, especially when they did after all have greater numbers. Considering the war was essentially who could kill the most, he would later logistically admit that the nature of the war created a disadvantage in the first place. However, it was too late to apologize, and with Konoha’s relevance as Capital was removed, Suna lost one of its shops to the Mist. As time went on, Eric seeked excitement, and so, with Erica and Rita by his side, he formed the Shadow Force. It was intended to be an assassination group, but it eventually became an organized task for “clan”, similar to Siwon’s function before its decimation. As Commander, Eric became engaged in many battles, increasing his experience and knowledge over time, particularly in Futon and Katon. Afgter some time, the Commander faced an opposing leader and was defeated. It had been said that he had been killed in that battle, and that Jestar was now formally orphaned, the whereabouts of his mother a mystery at the time of Eric’s defeat. Recovery: Eric and Rita both had been severely injured by the molten dragon and its master. Their respective injuries prevented them to return all the way back to Konohagakure. As their injuries healed, their trained their minds, focusing only midly on their body as they increased their chakra pool and usage. It was also a time of great connection for the two, as they had plenty of time to chat and rely on each other for survival. While Eric reflected over his life up till this point, he at the same time wondered what the future held, as supposedly they were both dead to the world. Nevertheless, their complete recovery would take some time to complete, during which Eric explored moreso than before his dragon self, daring to stay in the form for prolonged periods of time. It was during this recovery time that he uncovered the secrets to his lineage, and with that secret, realized that he had ultimately brought both of his parents to doom, and many of their friends. He attempted to receive news of Erica; there were none to be spoken of, not in the least bit, regarding Erica Nara. History: Recent Events The Shinobi Returns: The affiliations of Eric, upon deeming himself and Rita capable of returning to the shinobi world, wandered into the Sound domain. While he had certainly attacked his share of Sound ninja in the past, there were plenty of reasons why going directly back to Konoha seemed like a bad idea. For one, he didn’t want to have to face Jestar. Secondly, he didn’t want to be attacked, in the occasion his absence were taken for anything but a time of recovery. At the same time, he committed an even greater crime than his original by joining within the ranks of the Sound. He managed to get re-accustomed to the swing of being a shinobi while amongst these forces, while at the same time making a new acquantinceship, Trev Uchiha. Jestar, howe ver, found his way to the Sound Village. Or better yet, it would seem as if Eric found his way back to the leaf village. Either way, the two meeting quickly increased the complexity of the situation, and before long, Eric, beset by a yellow-haired shinobi of sorts who he painfully learned was the new Hokage, was given a choice. Leaf or death, either literal or of the sort that he would forget anything related to his ninja career, which was most of his life. Faced with such odds, Eric agreed to return to the Leaf forces on a formal note, somewhat wary of the reasoning behind such relative benevolence. Once again apart of the forces, he and Jestar together formed a sort of duo, with Rita on the side, as Eric has vowed to become stronger, as to defend his village and child with a new vigor. He also strives to protect Rita, who has continuously been with him in the times of turmoil and grief. Master of the Wind- Eric, upon returning, immediately went back to work, knowing that in a new time and age, he needed to play catch up, as many of his former equals had suddenly become far stronger, to the point where it seemed he was quite behind. Comparatively he was, and to help remedy that, Eric began working on his strongest elemental affinity; Futon. Because there were so many Katon users, it seemed for awhile that he would have quite the time actually using Futon, especially in spars against fellow leaf shinobi. However, it became apparent that he was also noteably slower than many shinobi went it came down to delivering finishing blows. To suffice, Eric worked with his skill in Futon to eventually invent his own version of the envied wind armor, the counterpart to the lightning armor. Many had their own versions, and some versions arguably are much more effective. But Eric’s version employs the usage of the tearing beast claw’s strength of using actual air to form much of the sustence of the technique. This would allow Eric to greatly augument the power of the technique and create one of the greatest defenses for his immediate person, when given the time that is: the beast tearing wind claw armor. Along with this, he fully developed the wind bullets into the perfect sniper wind bullet, the vaccum sphere assassain. This was to be his ultimate assassain’s card, one to be done when someone needed to be eliminated with speed and precision. He received an eye scope to help compliment the need for aim at increasingly far-off distances. He also modified the wind bullet to the point where the technique could be incredibly versatile, from many foes to just a few. Along with this, his understanding of wind styles would also help compliment his usage of others to create combination techniques, his creativity the limit in battle for what he could jointly create in a battle. The Gate of Shadows- The gate of shadows had been poorly developed during the recovery period, although its importance as a potential Nara Clan secret technique didn’t emerge until this point. It had to be made more practical, where Eric could actually maneuver the battlefield with it. With some minor assistance from the Tomi and guidance from a book on fuinjutsu, he successfully refined the gate of shadows to the point where he could use it to “migrate” through designated shadows. Conviently, it would work similarly to hiraishin, save for it somewhat slower speed, but be scarcely used in its shadow migration form. However, the gate of shadows, now that Eric had experimented with its many purposes, has evolved into a powerful defense, offense, and transportation technique that truly has evolved the Nara Clan Shadow into something that can compete within the realm of the many clans. Hopefully, this introduction will allow the Nara Clan to grow within the Leaf Village, but there was no telling. The Jōnin Exams Eric and his Chunin Team were just one of many teams whom had applied for the Jonin Exams. Representing the leaf was himself, Uetto Senju, and Taraka Uchiha. In round one, Eric and his team was faced off against Styx, who, along with his Chunins, introduced Eric to the power of Amegakure shinobi. It was quite the match in the desert, being forced to enter his dragon state and even summon his dragon mount Rita, and utilize his most powerful wind style in existance, using it to effectively win the match. The next round was scheduled for a duel between his team and another Konoha Team's, Uetto's, but by some luck or curse, Uetto was unable to participate, and thus, he by defacto advanced to the next round, having already won one round. Taraka, for mysterious reasons to Eric, dropped out in this round also, along with many other participants; in the end, it came down to just two, himself and ShadowFire Hyuuga. The battle was one of epic proportions, fought on a level far higher than Jonin for the majority of the round. Link: http://forum.shinobilegends.com/index.php/topic,7021.new.html#new? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? (First 3 pages) Upon returning to the village, the group was glad that none of the group were seriously injured, if not greatly exhausted. Eric was in the hospital for nearly two weeks due to his over-exertions, but the fact that his Chunin ended up okay greatly benefitted him in the end. He recieved no promotion, as he was already a Jonin, but his comrades recieved commemorations for their actions during the Exams as a whole. Without them, he certainly would not have come back. In the end, Team Eric was decided as the winner, despite the fight itself ending in a draw, and Team Eric recieved a grand reward. However, Eric himself also recieved a reward as leader and primary testee, of which he hadn't claimed as of yet. Wind Saber: After sparring with Jestar, Eric came to the realization that, even against his son in a friendly fight, in a solo fight, he was hard-pressed for a victory. While firing a wind bullet at his son earlier in the match probably would have solved things quickly, it would have defeated the purpose of the excercise, however. So, Eric worked on perfecting the code to a technique of his own that could potentially seal the deal of a fight. He succeeded. While on a training session in Sunagakure, Eric recieved a rescue mission. Excitedly the shinobi went forth to complete this quest; however, he soon found that between illusions and barrier traps, his enemy was in no way surprised by their arrival. After dispelling the genjutsu and saving his team, including the injured Chunin, from being blown to pieces, the jounin chased after the rogue ninja, leaving Rita to air-lift the injured. Excerpt from SL mission "From the Jaws of Death" Since he had already compressed and shaped the wind around him, now all he needed to do was put it in a focal point and start spinning it, where the blades of wind would become sharper and sharper till the point © (20h) <火> Nara Eric? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? that they could get no sharper and no finer. With the plan formulated, he concentrated much of his "extra" (the "wings of the dragon shape and the additonal "head" space and tail) towards his two palms, facing each other vertically. He would © (19h58m) <火> Nara Eric? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? spin the mixture rapidly with his Futon, by this point the enemy having charged up their chidori. Finally, with the blades of wind unified, greatly sharpened, and fine pointed, Eric placed this combination over his Futon coated right hand, it ©now taking on a white chakra color as it adopted the appearance of a saber. The rapid spinning would make the sound of thousands of shuriken and kunai clashing against each other constantly, quite irritating in fact to the casual listener, and © (19h56m) <火> Nara Eric? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? by this point his enemy would be charging towards him. With not much momentum on his own side, Eric would, as the shinobi came within striking range, thrust his right palm forward and outward to release the high cutting wind, by this point the © (19h55m) <火> Nara Eric? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? enemy shinobi lunging and thus at near point-blank-range. The cutting wind would be released similarly to the whirlwind fist, releasing a white, "hurricane" of horiztonally spinning, white Futon chakra wind towards the shinobi, not only likely © (19h53m) <火> Nara Eric? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? cutting him nigh through and through, but also slicing through his armor with ease, tearing and ripping the shinobi to nigh shreds. Becuase of the their distance and the dedication of the lightning cutter, it was unlikely that his enemy would © (19h53m) <火> Nara Eric? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? have the time to dodge. (19h51m) <火> Nara Eric? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? (Fūton: Senpūken; Wind Release:Whirlwind Fist Obviously greatly enhanced version. He dubbed the technique the wind saber. Ironically enough, the technique nigh cut through his wind augumentation, luckily the damage only cutting lightly his right hand. His perfected form of this technique would later come in the versatile form of the True Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique and the many variations that would eventually come along with it. Dragon Fire and the Nara Clan Juinjutsu - As time went on, Eric soon saw the need for a different and somewhat stricter arsenal. His foes, when captured, often times relied on time and sheer force to escape his clutches, something that people were surprisingly good at doing. As a result, Eric began working on the development of a special compound that would enhance and supplement his fire style techniques, intent on dubbing it "Dragon Fire". At the same time, it also resulted in his desire to create a juinjutsu for his clan; they had plenty of Ninjutsu techniques, space-time ninjutsu even, and possessed a reasnoable number of "capture and restraint" techniques. However, he felt that in the changing realm and the need for stronger restraint, the ultimate form of control, in the form of curse techniques, was required. Requring help in his aspect, he would seek out Chika (Known as Jonin Chika) in order to aide him in this pursuit. Eventually, he would even come to ask Rares of his opinion, of which he would explain the basic principle behind juinjutsu, it's incredible relation to fuinjutsu, and more importantly, guide him towards how to create one. However, his offer with Chika still valid, Eric would travel to Chika's lair of sorts, a strange facility where Chika offered further elaboration on Juinjutsu. The shinobi's offer was eventually reclined, and of course, Eric would then build off of what he learned from Rares in order to complete the techniques he had been working on, effectively creating a Nara Clan jujutsu and juinjutsu, both in the process, dubbed Cursed Shadow manipulation and Shadow Curse Manipulation respectively. Eric promised to take his son to Sunagakure after Jestar's less than thrilling evaluation results. However, he had business to attend to within Kumogakure as well. Upon sending Jestar and Alucard (a new Nara introduced shortly after the creation of the juinjutsu and jujutsu) To Sunagakure, himself and Rita went to Kumogakure. They were stopped at the gates, however, and eventually linked up with Jestar and Alucard in Sunagakure. A relatively minor incident regarding a bombing put Sunagakure on high alert. During his stay, Eric recruited Ignis Silver "Moonfire" to make a glass sculpture of himself and Rita. Once completed, the Nara transported the statue back home, just in time to arrive for a balloon fight that Jestar had organized on Eric's behalf. Konoha Defense Arc '''- After that, for the most part, the Nara relaxed, until one night, alarms rang. Both Rita and Eric hurried to the gates to find the forces of Iwagakure, lead by the new Tschukage, Bocchiere, and rapidly rushed to defend their village. The fighting invovled Bocchiere and his revived zombies: Kamui, the first Hokage, Taumaster, a former Otokage, Hidesamu, both the former Tschikage and a former teacher to Eric, and a few other figures Eric did not recognize in the slightest. Nevertheless, atop the gates, Eric, along wtih his comrades, attempted to lure their enemies into a well contrived trap involving the use of the gate's incredibly large shadow. Although in the end the trap failed to capture the quarries, Eric managed to curse Bocchiere and his company, allowing him to manipulate their shadows in the future, pending they did not remove it via extraordinary means. Eric and Rita, by the end of the fight, were both exhausted and injured respectively, but they had managed to help Konoha defend its borders. Shortly afterwards, Eric was proclaimed the last of the Sannin trio, ironically enough the oldest among the two and the only non-Uchiha of the "group". Relationships Eric Nara has a relatively large amount of connections, both family, friends, and acquantinces. '''Uchiha Rares- Originally he met the shinobi at a different time, when he called himself a different name, and was less prestigous and dangerous than he is nowadays. Nevertheless, as Eric has signed the dragon summoning contract, of which Rares currently possesses, the shinobi has a tendancy to go to Rares whenever he needs something. Recently, however, with Rares view towards those which he summons, he had been more reluctant to pay Rares a visit, particularly since their views on how to treat their dragon companions were almost polar opposites. That, of course, coupled with the fact that Rares was a most secretive shinobi concerning his organization, something designated as ROOT, and has an entire task force devoted to carrying out his deeds. Not wanting anything to do with such a thing, Eric steered clear usually of the shinobi unless he had to, although it is safe to say that the two were still on rather good terms. Rares comitting suicide in the public of Konoha highly upset Eric. In fact, the ninja mourned the loss of Rares as a student would mourn their teacher, attempting to maintain a sort of honor regarding their relationship. Alas, all in all, Eric could only hope that Rares had fulfilled himself before his tragic death. Lightning Razgriz (LightningX)-''' Eric's relationship with Lightningt started shortly after he founded the original Shadow Force. In an attempt to jumpstart the organization, he required a vigilant, untied shinobi to help increase their numbers and get the word out. Lightning proved to be just that shinobi, and very shortly became Eric's right hand man and student. After the incident regarding the molten dragon, Eric saw very little of Lightning, and even today does not meet with him very often. In fact, the two are on a distant relationship term, although it can be presumed that the two are still friends. In most cases, Lightning was probably the first male comrade in which Eric put significant trust in. Recently the two have been interacting on somewhat more equal, formal terms, as Lightning has greatly come close to completely matching Eric in overall capabiltiies, perhaps even surpassing him in knowledge. 'Tommi Uematsu (Tomi)-' The Fourth Hokage was actually far more familiar with Jestar than with Eric, but the summary of their relationship mostly tied into the fact that it was the fourth that "convinced" Eric to return to Konohagakure. The Fourth is also the shinobi who helped him understand technique formulas and such, is a large reason that Eric could formulate many of the new techniques that he plans on adding to the Nara clan arsenal. However, shortly afte the Fourth's presumed death, it can be said that Eric was, at the very least, saddened by the death of the 3rd's successor, especially when Yumei became Tomi's successor. Their relationship status up to the point of the 4th's death can be said to have been familiar yet formal. 'Jestar Holrew Nara-' Jestar is Eric's biological son, and as such, the two obviously share a relationship of sorts. Keeping an eye out for the young adult ever since Jestar was a child, Eric maintains a relatively strong relationship with his son, especially since the boy is officially motherless. The two had strained relationships shortly after Eric's molten dragon incident, but ever since being re-instated into Konohagakure, the two have re-built and upkept their close relationship. Eric plans on passing almost everything he owns to Jestar, including the Blade of Shadows and leadership of the Nara Clan. 'Rita Drago (Rita)-' Words are hard pressed to describe the relationship between Eric and Rita. The two have been together for an incredibly long time, and as such, it is easy to understand that this is Eric's strongest relationship. Even through weddings, Rita was always like a second wife, fulfilling many of his emotion requirements while his wives were supplement for his carnal and physical demands. The trust between the two is incredible, as is their bond, and the two are nearly inseperable most of the time. Rita is his dog in inuzuka terms, their ability to rely on each other in battle beyond that at times. No man, woman, child, or even power can take Rita's place in Eric's heart, especially since she can sometimes be something of a guiding figure for him. If Rita tends not to like something, then Eric closely follows suit, shown by Eric's avoidance of Rare in modern times. She is also one of the very few who knows of Eric's dragon transformation, which, when compared in standard, Rita still dwarfs him at her full size. As a wind dragon and Eric's natural affinity being wind, it would not be short to say that the two are incredibly compatible. Abilities '''Fūton: This is Eric's primary elemental nature. This allows him the availability of a wide range of wind styled attacks, particularly ones requiring a high-level of proficiency and control with element. Capable of manipulating the winds around him, Eric's mastery over the wind is far greater than any other individual in his arsenal, rivalling his clan's shadow manipulation techniques. Since wind style is such a versatile style, it also provides Eric with a method of support and combination, as many Fire-Wind style combinations exist, since the two elements compliment each other so very well. ' Kenjutsu': The art of the sword is an art Eric is quite familiar with. While he would not call himself a master, his profiency with his own sword, the Blade of Shadows, is commendable, as he is capable of performing various sword technques. However, he raraly uses his sword in battle for sword-fighting, although he is trained to do such if needed. Katon: This is Eric's Secondary elemental nature. He frequently uses fire styled techniques becuase of their offensive implications. Fire Style allows Eric to counter enemy wind techniques when his own main methods are not available, as wind has a natural weakness to fire. This can be overcame with fire augumentation, effectively making countering a wind styled technique with fire a suitable alternative than counter it with another wind technique. Fire style is also the signature element of Fire Country, and thus is known by most all Leaf shinobi. Eric is adept at its usage and application. ' Kagemane': Shadow Imitation techniques are the fame and glory of Eric's clan; as their self-appointed leader, he was required to understand fully these techniques. He has even gone beyond that, establishing a space-time ninjutsu that will make his Clan well renknown throughout the land. In fact, his mastery over the shadow manipulation is unrivalled among Nara clan members, and amongst nearly all shinobi that Eric has encountered since claiming mastery of the styles. His battle style, however, rarely allows for some of their usage, as quite often his foes are well aware of his capabilities and tend to avoid overly close combat. However, when he does employ these techniques, he tends to ensure that his enemy does not have the chance to evade, placing more restrictions on the times of which he could use these techniques. ' Doton': Eric possesses the least skill in Earth Style techniques, and with relative good reason. Earth style is an uncommon style for those whom he is around the most, and tends to be more for defensive purposes than offensive ones. That is the main reason Eric picked it up, as he needed a means to defend himself in emergency situations. It came in handy greatly when his own technique backfired during his spar with Jestar. However, his interest in the Earth Style began earlier than that; currently, he would admit that he is still an amateur in comparison to most in using it, and only has a few techniques in his arsenal that incorporate the element into his arsenal. ' Taijutsu': Eric possesses skill in hand-to-hand combat, although quite honestly he cannot declare that he has mastery over it. This is primarily due to the fact that in many of his most recent fights, his opponents have resorted greatly to using Ninjutsu and tools against him. The times he does get close enough for this sort of combat, he uses his Nara techniques. While his actual hand-to-hand combat, as a result, is questionable in effeciency, he has noteable physical prowress, capable of wielding his Blade of Shadows with ease, and can swiftly move through the battlfield. His reflexes are also well-toned, though against a true taijutsu master and specialist Eric would be out-classed overall in this field. Dragon Transformation- ''Eric can transform into a wind dragon, with similar abilities to that of Rita. Since he transforms into her species, conviently enough, it can be said that when transformed, he and Rita are at their maximum effectiveness as a combo. Capable of using Wind Style techniques with just a flap of his wings, the shinobi has increased taijutsu capabilities and defensive abilities, each of his senses greatly enhanced while in this form. Few have seen this side of him, and even fewer know precisely why this developed within him. Tools ' Black Kunai- These are relatively ordinary kunai; save for the fact that they have been modified via Eric's minor Gate of Shadows Seal and are infused with his chakra. As a result, the abilities of these kunai (and sometimes shuriken too) vary wtih the type of chakra Eric put in, typically shadow manipulation and the gate of shadows abilities, in order to extend, even temporarily, his capabiltiies in trapping his opponents in his shadow possession techniques. ''' Eye Scope - The main purpose of this eye tool is to extend Eric's vision, as extremely long distances, while rare in chance, are a possiblity on the battlfield. It was considered a neccessity in order to be able to perform his assassain's bullet from a relatively safe distance. Bought from an Iwagakure merchant, this tool is rarely seen on Eric's person, as the majority of his foes are within relative seeing range, and thus do not need to be magnified with his binocular-like tool. It only covers one eye, however, and lines up with the mouth at default, requiring adjustment in order to use it to throw tools at an extensive range. Sound Filtering Earbuds- Worn at almost all times, these small, self-powered (through batteries) devices are capable of reducing harmful sound, including sound infused with chakra, into harmless, tolerable, "clean" sound. Essentially, turning noise into a less disdainful frequency, allowing the user to still hear things. Although they came in many variations and styles, Eric uses a dark green color, as to not "clash" with the rest of his outfit or draw uneeded attention. Blade of Shadows- Eric's signature tool, the Blade of Shadow resembled leadership within both his Clan and his organization at certain points of their history. This sword is approximately 5'1 (feet'inches) with a blade about 4'8 and a hilt of 5 inches in height. The blade is also about 2 inches in thickness. Resiliant to rust, cleavage, and stains, the sword is very durable, capable of withstanding high temperatures without melting. This is due to the substance that the blade itself (not the handle) is made of, allowing to perform a number of Kenjutsu-based techniques just by channeling chakra through the blade and changing the use of the energy, to barriers to large blasts of energy. In the pommel is a bloodpal that seems to have a living flame within it, all the time enscribed to "Eric Nara". This was a gift made, given, and "installed" by Amai into the sword. The sword is relatively linear, with two curves to make a sort of triangular tip. The sheathe for it is dark-green forest camo colored. The sword's blade is midnight blue, despite the fact that more than a few have mistaken this color for black, due to their similarities. It is strapped to Eric's back on normal occassions, and is a valuable family heirloom that Eric holds quite dear. Trivia *Despises Self-Righteous people, regardless of whether they are in the right or not *Dislikes overly used, to the point of cliche': phrases, techniques, and abilities. *Dislikes the sharingan *Dislikes the use of "God" to describe any mortal person or creation *Disbelieves in the though of immortality *Disbelieves that hatred is the true path *Disbelieves that love is the true path *Disbelieves that what is "good" and what is "right" are the same thing *Distrusts systems he has no partaking or participation in *Dislikes vegetables *Dislikes Rita eating his Clan deer *Dislikes the pedestal standers and their spotlight *Dislikes non-humorous trolls *Dislikes Mist ninja due to their affinity for Water Release, a crippling flaw in Eric's arsenal. *Hates the Mist Chakra Drain Rain Technique *Hates those who either love the world or hate the world becuase of their own expereinces *Hates to be corrected, but hates even more not to be corrected and laughed at as a result *Hates to be erected on a pedestal *Loves the middle ground of things *Loves honesty *Values modesty *Values situational transparency *Values patience *Values understanding *Wants to fight: Kayenta, Takahashi, Tomi, Gyrururu, Uetto, and Bocchiere Quotes "If the king could defend himself, then why would he bother with the likes of us?" "If I had a nickel for every time a shinobi went down that cliche' path of revenge or ultimate power, I'd be a very rich ninja." "I hate the heaven's eye! I hate everything about it! I have nothing against your eyes, son, just that I hate the damn sharingan!" "Mist ninja never play fair." "Leaf ninja never fight right." "Sand ninja shouldn't swim. It isn't natural!" "The over-powered suppress the rest of us. I guess that's why democracy failed till one of the beaten down over-powered decided to do something about it." "Fight fire with water, women with censored!" "So what if I like her? At least she can set me straight twice this year." "Just when I thought I was going to stop belieiving... I was given a reason to start believing again." "Close... Too close. But then again, that's why we live on the edge of this realm!" "Sorry! I'm bumping your ass back to the start!" "I'm bringing legit back. That's why I'm here." "Seriously?!" (Most famous one) "I'd rather die a coward than die a fool. My ego couldn't take the latter's implication!" "Crazy? You must mistake me for a philosipher when you say that." Theme "The price of onself is the most desired..." The Force of Shadows Hidden in the Leaves, the great shadow master of the wind, cool breeze enter the forest and he will show what they mean when they say "freeze"! Binding bonds upon the ground each shadow is just as lethal if you're lucky you will reach the mound, otherwise meet the''' kage chapel!' Shadows bending at the wills, leader of his kin, the great Nara Uchiha got their heart chills, Shadows reign nigh tomorrah! Everything will be just fine, just so long as the shadows stay, the king will be amongst thine! No matter how faint be they Still lethal as the assassian's blade! Forest green his companion flies, any life in that path is forbade by the fires, fruitless they tries to escape, just with no gain. Just when they think it is all over Here comes lightning like a crane, cunning as a fox, red rover, many rose without thinking and fell at the bow of archer, then there's the son, white lightning he's the nerve wracking, mind assaulter '''Force of the shadows, Shadow Force', Led by one man, though humble, knows about the force, of course, never too loud, just a mumble. No matter what says thine widows, the hardest are cast in is shadows!